Monthly Archives: December 2015

Despite the media’s incessant, sniveling warnings about alleged Islamophobia they never have any specific examples. The ghoulish newsreaders were licking their chops with glee at the thought that maybe a Christian or a Jew had set fire to a Houston mosque on Christmas Day.

Once again the media was left saying “D’OH!” as security camera footage from nearby businesses led to the arrest of Gary Nathaniel Moore – a Muslim who regularly attended the mosque. Moore reportedly prayed there up to five times a day for years.

Was he trying to fake an “anti-Muslim hate crime” the same way people try to fake Bigfoot or UFO footage? Continue reading →

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of this neglected cult show from the mid-1980s.

EPISODE ORIGINALLY BROADCAST: Saturday December 27th, 1986 from 10:30pm to 1:00am.

EXTRAS: Randy Clower and Richard Malmos, as machine-gun toting Film Vault Technicians First Class and members of the fictional Film Vault Corps (“the few, the proud, the sarcastic”) had two and a half hours to work with each week. Interviews with figures like Vincent Price, Forry Ackerman and others were featured and the movies being shown and mocked were often preceded by episodes of old Republic serials like Radar Men from the Moon and others.

This episode featured Randy and Richard’s interview with Ben Johnson, whom they had interviewed at his ranch earlier in the year. Johnson also appeared in the episode’s film, Terror Train.

SERIAL: For this episode the movie was preceded by a chapter of Mysterious Doctor Satan.

HOST SEGMENTS: The most memorable Host Segment Randy and Richard did during this New Year’s-themed horror film was a bit where, as Midnight Dallas Time approached, they staged a countdown and then a raucous celebration of the arrival of … December 28th, 1986. Ken “Tex” Miller, Joe “The Hypnotic Eye” Riley and other Film Vault Corps members joined in the festivities in a great example of the wry humor of this pre-MST3K program.

Balladeer’s Blog continues its examination of Garrett P Serviss’ odd sequel to Fighters From Mars, his blatant imitation of War of the Worlds.

PART EIGHT

The Earth fleet departed from the asteroid and resumed course for Mars. To pass the time the flagship’s linguists began working with the 15 feet tall Martian captive in an attempt at communication. Some progress was made, enhanced by the captive’s possession of a book, thus giving the linguists a look at the written language of the Red Planet.

After 23 days the Earth fleet at last reached Mars. Edison commanded the Terran ships to observe and map the planet below so that an overall strategy could be outlined. Mars featured several continents, all criss-crossed with the canals people were convinced Mars possessed back then. Continue reading →

After Balladeer’s Blog’s examination of the Mwindo Epic many readers expressed an interest in Nyanga mythology. I’m all about giving readers what they want so here are brief looks at the deities of the Nyanga people.

KATEE – The god of hedgehogs. Katee spoke through one of his animal avatars to warn the semidivine hero Mwindo about some of Kasiyembe’s death traps.

MWERI – The moon goddess. Her domain is the moon itself and is composed of alternate hot, sandy wasteland and lush blue waters. Mweri sees everything that happens at night and therefore has ties to lovemaking, fertility, sleeping, thievery and assassinations. She can send dreams or nightmares as well as prophetic messages in those dreams. Visitors to Mweri’s domain can be left wandering in the hot wasteland or even set on fire by her, depending on the goddess’ whim. Continue reading →

The Islamic State, spawned by Barack Obama’s premature withdrawal from Iraq, issued a fatwa (Muslim justification for killing and killing and killing some more) ordering Muslims to kill children who have Down’s Syndrome and/or are born with deformities or disabilities.

The fatwa was issued on December 14th but I held off posting anything to make absolutely sure it was all true. I’m afraid it is true and untold numbers of children and newborns have already been put to death by the Islamic State.

GHOSTKEEPER (1981) – One of those infamous Canadian tax shelter movies of the early 1980s, so you know what you’re in for: the usual slapdash storytelling, low production values and a tale that would have been better handled in the old glory days of radio decades ago.

On New Year’s Eve two men and a woman get stranded in the Rocky Mountains following a snowmobile crash. They seek refuge in a creepy old boardinghouse run by the female Joe Spinnell, Georgie Collins. Collins plays an absolute psycho who has two creepy sons, one of whom is a host for the cannibalistic Native American monster called the Wendigo. Continue reading →